Local MP, David Rutley, recently met with the Macclesfield Jobcentre Plus team to discuss steps being taken to strengthen the local economy and to help jobseekers in our area to find employment opportunities, including the recent, successful "Cheshire Works 4 U" digital job fair event.

The innovative "Cheshire Works 4 U" event aimed to assist all jobseekers, with a focus on supporting young people.

It provided a mix of pre-recorded employer messages and shared live job vacancies in the local area.

Over 15 employers spoke about what it is like to work for them and over 600 local vacancies across a variety of sectors were advertised.

The event, streamed online, has so far been viewed over 100,000 times on the online platform LearnLive – this is more than four times their usual level of traffic.

At the meeting, Colin Billingsley, DWP external relations manager, explained to Mr Rutley how the team at Macclesfield Jobcentre Plus has found that digital communications have been an important way of communicating with their clients during lockdown.

They will be looking to build on the recent success of "Cheshire Works 4 U" by holding similar events in the future to help local residents find employment opportunities and to develop and transfer skills.

This will complement the traditional work of the team, which will be bolstered by additional Work Coaches going forward as part of the Government's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Cheshire Works 4 U" was held in conjunction with Cheshire and Warrington's The Pledge Partnership, which enables businesses to work together with educators to provide young people with the tools that they need to succeed in the world of work.

The Pledge is a key element of Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership's work in bringing employers and schools and colleges closer together to create job opportunities. Further details can be found here.

After the meeting Mr Rutley said: "During these unprecedented times, the work that the team at Macclesfield Jobcentre performs in helping local people find employment and develop their careers is more important than ever.

"It was great to hear about the successful 'Cheshire Works 4 U' event and to have the chance to discuss further plans to help create local employment opportunities.

"I will continue to actively support the team's work and to help strengthen the local economy in the weeks and months ahead."